


This Time Of The Day

by 3White_Mage3



Series: Variable Series [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-22 09:42:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3724186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3White_Mage3/pseuds/3White_Mage3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>First in an ongoing series of drabbles. There's so much to tell about these two, but not every story is worth a thousand words.<br/>Some are going to be heartfelt, angsty and earnest, some are going to be smutty but earnest. Some will have Hansencest, many will not. It will all depend on which brain is in control that day and whether testosterone or brain cells are dominant.<br/>It's your choice to read all, some or none. Isn't that what fanfic is all about?<br/>Any way you look at it, the world will go on spinning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Time Of The Day

**Author's Note:**

> Tenses are a bitch.  
> This chapter is not Hansencest per se.

"C'mon, boy," Herc mutters to Max even as he throws the last piece of the stick he'd been shredding into the water below. "Time to go to bed and see your dad." He chuckles to himself as Max snorts his wheezy little answer and picks up the pace with his pudgy little legs as they move homeward.

Herc has been visiting this outcrop of rock overlooking the crashing waves near the Dome ever since he'd recovered -- at least in appearance -- from Chuck's death. In actuality his existence was the bare minimum of the normal behavior required to keep from being discharged from the PPDC on "health" reasons and thereby losing the last tether the now-Marshall had to his life before Pitfall. Herc comes most evenings to watch the sun start sinking toward the horizon, arriving at the time of the day when even the shrieks of the gulls and the other ocean birds have begun to recede, fade away and become almost ethereal. The time of the day when the entire world seems to be getting to the point when it wraps itself up in whatever comfort is at hand and closes its eyes seeking a few minutes, maybe even a few hours, of peace.

The time of day when the light begins to dim and the din of the world has already begun to recede -- except for the constant, now-neverending mechanical sounds which signal the ongoing dismantling of the PPDC's operations and the progressive remanding of the Dome itself as its pieces are carted away to be sold as scrap. That time when people sought out the comfort of their comrades in the mess hall and perhaps shared their beverage of choice and a memory or two, while nature's little footed and winged ones sought their homes for the night. For many, this was the time of day for regret, for an accounting of opportunities foregone, for remorse over sins already transgressed and persons offended, for vows to do better the next day. 

For Herc though this was the time he would wait for all day, every day, because this was when Max had eaten dinner and was settled snoring at the foot of Herc's bed. When Herc would himself climb into his bunk and allow his beaten up body with the now ever-present, ever-increasing, years-old aches to settle into the sheets. When he could close his eyes and dream of what comes next instead of fixating on what could have been.

Unlike so many people who go to bed every single night thinking and regretting that this is another day gone, one more step toward ... the end, Herc had seen that end, he had made peace with it, survived it -- even if barely. If truth be told, he welcomed it now, looked forward to it, this time of day and that "end" that was universally feared by most of humankind. Because it was at this time of the day that Herc could close his eyes once again and meet Chuck in the drift, be with him in a place where his boy was fit and hale and happy and laughing. And waiting. For Herc so they can be together again.

Every night in the drift Herc tells his boy the latest news around the world, including which domes and jaegers have been decommissioned and which of their old friends have shipped out home in earnest pursuit of new lives. In return, Chuck tells him of the wonders which wait, a myriad of glories however anyone might describe them: nebulae, dimensions, realities. And the promise of an eternity together to explore those wonders. To just journey on forever together. But Chuck, the kid who was always so impetuous, impatient, arrogant, Chuck reminds him that the wonders will still be there tomorrow. They'll keep. For now, just for one more night, Herc can allow himself the comfort of turning off the light and drifting.


End file.
